Intention, Action and Art

This project focuses on theory of action and inquiry on the structures of intention and practical thought, combining it with philosophical debates about art, towards an ‘action-oriented aesthetics’. A joint project of the University of Lisbon'sProgram in Literary Theory and the New University of Lisbon's Nova Institute of Philosophy, it is sponsored by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.

Why should action theory deal with art, and why should aesthetics turn to action?

What business does action-theoretical philosophy have in dealing with art, and what can aesthetics possibly gain from a turn to action?

Let us work from the under-formulated etiological view that in ‘art’ people make and appreciate certain sorts of objects in certain sorts of contexts. Traditionally, the discussion on aesthetics has centered on conceptual and theoretical inquiries into what makes these objects, contexts and experiences peculiar, namely, by focusing on 3 principal types of questions: What objects count as ‘art’? What is the experience of art like? What do certain words used in explaining ‘art’ mean (e.g. ‘representation’, ‘expression’, ‘beauty’, ‘pleasure’, ‘aesthetic’)? More recently, these questions have been tackled in analytic aesthetics mostly under the heading of the debate on the definition of ‘art’, for which, over the last five decades, particularly in the last 10-15 years, there have been many significant (if inconclusive) proposals. This pseudo-definition has been put forth to assuage both skeptical and non-skeptical approaches to the definition of ‘art’: ‘Art’ is whatever we treat as ‘art’. The obvious flaw with this formulation is that it begs explanation as to what it means ‘to-treat-something-as-art’. This difficulty has been tackled by attempts to define what ‘art’

is, by appealing to different types of criteria set out by the available definitional projects. Meta-methodological work in this vein is typically devoted to explain (and hopefully settle) why a given set of criteria ought to be adopted or refused, in order to understand the objects, experiences and contexts of art. As alternative, we propose to clarify what it means ‘to-treat-something-as-art’, and thus to bring light to problems of philosophical aesthetics by attempting to describe actions in art, or the structures of action in art. The methodological work required by this approach is however not provided by traditional aesthetics; in our view, help must be sought from contemporary action-theoretical philosophy and the current research on practical rationality. Hence, our choice of procedure. Moreover, believing that examples drawn from art provide a demanding case study for action-theoretical philosophy, our ‘action-oriented’ approach to art will focus on intention, action explanation, models of process control, direction of fit, value sensitivity, specification of ends, evaluative judgment, collective action, mental acts, desiring and belief. Action theorists have not yet been seriously concerned with art-related issues. This is mostly due to the transitional stage in which current debates seem to stand. Mapping out new boundaries in action theory is therefore a pressing task, which our focus on art aims to bring about.

Team

Humberto Brito, Principal Investigator, University of Lisbon / New University of Lisbon (post-doctoral fellow)

Alberto Arruda, Program in Literary Theory / University of Lisbon (doctoral student)

Alda Rodrigues, Program in Literary Theory / University of Lisbon, Nova Institute of Philosophy / New University of Lisbon (doctoral student)

Ana Almeida (external member), Program in Literary Theory / University of Lisbon.

Brett Bourbon, English Department (Associate Professor) / University of Dallas, Program in Literary Theory / University of Lisbon (Associate Visiting Professor)

Nuno Amado, Program in Literary Theory / University of Lisbon, Nova Institute of Philosophy / New University of Lisbon

Miguel Tamen, Program in Literary Theory (Chair) / University of Lisbon, Romance Languages and Literatures / University of Chicago (Visiting Professor)

Pedro Tiago Serras (external member), Program in Literary Theory / University of Lisbon.

Sara Eckerson, Program in Literary Theory / University of Lisbon, Nova Institute of Philosophy / New University of Lisbon (doctoral student)

Inception

This project began in a previous one, titled «Literature and Art in the Space of Reasons», which aimed to clarify how a discussion about literature and art should conform to what Wilfrid Sellars called «the logical space of reasons» (EPM, 169). Its seminars were devoted to debate the implications of placing philosophical discussions on art and literature—understood as practices—in the normative realm of justifications. The conversation gradually shifted from concepts such as e.g. «function», «representation», «properties», «aesthetic», «experience», «context», «conventions», «institutions», toquestions concerning topics such as intention, action, practice, narrative, community. It culminated in a programmatic description of what we saw as a turn to action in aesthetics, an action-oriented aesthetics.

Two PhD dissertations resulted from this previous project. The formal proposal of «Intention, Action, and the Philosophy of Art» to FCT funds resulted from that programmatic description. The project was active from October 2010 to January 2012, supported with seed funds [IFL-S-1] from the Nova Institute of Philosophy

Development

To undertake this project, we have organized the core of our work into four long-­term, monthly, seminars: (1) a seminar on Anscombe’s Intention, (2) a seminar on action theory, (3) a seminar on philosophy of art, and (4) a seminar for original papers. In seminar (1) we discussed and translated Anscombe’s book into Portuguese. (The translation is forthcoming in 2015.) In seminar (2) we read and discussed a selection of essays and book chapters of contemporary action-theoretical philosophy. In seminar (3) we read and discuss a selection of essays and book chapters from contemporary aesthetics, whose topics reflected the research of the team members. In seminar (4) we read and discussed each other, and sometimes original work by invited speakers.

On a later stage of the project, so that its participants could benefit from a wider feedback (and stronger criticism) from colleagues and faculty members, the meetings of seminar (3) were held in the Program in Literary Theory’s Philosophy and Literature Workshop.

Aside from our regular meetings, the project held a series of one-day colloquia, as well as meetings with consultants devoted to specific tasks, namely the Portuguese translation of Anscombe’s Intention, the preparation of the On-line Companion to Intention (in progress), and a (now aborted) book project titled Actions in Art.

Should we include the work prepared during its inception stage, the project delivered two more PhD dissertations, as well as the Portuguese translation of Sellars's Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind (forthcoming in 2015). For a detailed list, please consult → OUTPUTS.

Held in collaboration with the British Society of Aesthetics, the Mind Association, the Aristotelian Society, the Humanities and Arts Research Centre at Royal Holloway University of London in partnership with the Centre for Literature and Philosophy University of Sussex, and the Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study University of London.

Seminars

Four monthly seminars take place for the duration of this project: a seminar devoted action theory, in which we read and discuss contemporary action­-theoretical philosophy; a seminar devoted to contemporary philosophical aesthetics; a seminar for the translation of Elizabeth Anscombe's Intention into Portuguese; and a seminar devoted to discussing drafts of original papers by project members and by colleagues. The sessions of the latter were hosted by the Philosophy and Literature Workshop at the Program in Literary Theory.

Portuguese translation of G.E.M. Anscombe's Intention.

+ translation of Wilfrid Sellars' Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind (see inception)

Dissertations

Four PhD dissertations have resulted from this project.

NUNO AMADO. TITLE TBA.

Defense forthcoming in 2015.

This dissertation focuses on the philosophy of Ricardo Reis, Fernando Pessoa’s pagan heteronym, namely his concern with (negative) actions generally left unexamined by modern action theoretical philosophy. Specifically, it aims to understand the extent to which Reis’s (rationalist) theory of poetry and his practical philosophy («a sad Epicureanism») are mutually dependent. It analyzes how Reis’s stance on poetry and action is rooted in, or rather rebukes, traditional Epicurianism and Stoicism via Walter Pater’s aestheticism. Secondly, it describes this stance in relation to the influence of Alberto Caeiro (the Master figure amongst Pessoa’s heteronyms). Lastly, it culminates in a theory of heteronimity, according to which the creation of the heteronyms is required by the fundamental gap Fernando Pessoa sees between mind and action.

SARA ECKERSON

«INTERPRETATION, PERFORMANCE AND DESCRIPTION: THE CASE OF MUSIC».

Defense forthcoming in 2015.This thesis presents a hermeneutics of music based in Schleiermacher’s theory of hermeneutics. It principally examines the music of Beethoven in light of grammatical and psychological interpretation, with reference to the practice of critical and performance interpretation. The final chapter describes A.B. Marx’s theory of a musical Idee, which is considered from the perspective of hermeneutic analysis and the way in which music can portray universals and ideal content with a foundation in GWF Hegel’s Aesthetics.

ALBERTO ARRUDA

«THE ABSENCE OF INDIFFERENCE» (2016)

This thesis examines the moral implications of indifference: of being indifferent to others, of being indifferent to what goes on in the world, and of being indifferent to oneself. Specifically, the chapters of this dissertation are devoted to the relations between action and mind, practice and personal identity, and, finally, to the relations of reciprocity between people.

ALDA RODRIGUES

«UMA TEORIA DA COLECÇÃO» (2015)«A Theory of Collection» (2015)

This dissertation looks into some clichés commonly associated with the topics of collectors, collections, and collecting, namely the ideas that collections are located in a dimension disconnected from life, and that collectors are bizarre and dangerous creatures. Instead, it aims both to assess the integration of collections in collectors’ lives, and to understand the ways in which the study of collecting activities helps us to describe and clarify other human activities.

+2 PhD DISSERTATIONS HAVE RESULTED FROM THE PROJECT'S INCEPTION STAGE:

«‘A Única Restança Posta nos Capitéis do Tempo’: a ode I do Livro I de Ricardo Reis» [«‘A Única Restança Posta nos Capitéis do Tempo’: on the Ode I of Book I, by Ricardo Reis»], Tópicos Pessoanos [Pessoan Topics], Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, October 23, 2014.

«A Morte de Alberto Caeiro» [«The Death of Alberto Caeiro»], Assuntos Magistrais [Magistral Affairs], 8th Public Seminar of the Estranging Pessoa Project, New University of Lisbon, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences. October 9-10, 2014.

«A Characteristic Action», Literature, Actions and Agents, University of London (UK), por British Society of Aesthetics, the Mind Association, the Aristotelian Society and the Humanities and Arts Research Centre at Royal Holloway, University of London, in partnership with the Centre for Literature and Philosophy at the University of Sussex and the Philosophy and Literature Network, January 18, 2013.

«Actos Mentais em Pessoa» [«Mental Acts in Pessoa»]. Philosophy and Literature Workshop, Program in Literary Theory, University of Lisbon. November 4, 2014.

«Segundos Pensamentos» [«Second Thoughts»]. Assuntos Magistrais [Magistral Affairs], 8th Public Seminar of the Estranging Pessoa Project, New University of Lisbon, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences. October 9-10, 2014.

«Drawing Inferences: Thinking Because of Art», Actions in Art, New University of Lisbon, March 20, 2012.

Sara Eckerson

«A.B. Marx and the musical Idee: a re-interrogation of musical meaning from the perspective of 19th-century performance» to be presented at the Fourth Biennial North American Conference on Nineteenth-Century Music, Merrimack College, North Andover, MA, USA. July 16–18, 2015.

«For the Sake of Thematic Unity: Experimentation with Dynamics Beyond the Conventional Paradigm in Beethoven’s Early Bonn Keyboard Sonata WoO 47 No. 1 (1783)» presented at the 34th International Beethoven Research Symposium at the University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. September 19, 2014.

«Beethoven’s Piano Arrangement of Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus (Op. 43): Notes on the Reproduction of Orchestral Sonorities on the Keyboard» presented at the 30th International Beethoven Research Symposium at the University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. November 22, 2013.

«The 'Appassionata' Second Theme: Variation in Expression and Deriving Meaning from Variations» presented at the 28th International Beethoven Research Symposium at the University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. June 7, 2013.

«Expressive Markings in Beethoven’s Early and Late Works for Piano: a Reflective Study on Op. 2, Numbers 1-3 and Op. 106» presented at the Royal Music Association Research Students' Conference, [Session sponsored by the Society for Music Analysis], University of Southampton, UK. January 3, 2013.

«Muzio Clementi and Traces of his Potential Influence on Beethoven, with Special Focus on Expression and Thematic Material» presented at the 25th International Beethoven Research Symposium, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. November 16, 2012.

«Kierkegaard's ‘Musical Ideas’: Determinations and Reconciliation of ‘A Cursory Observation’ and ‘The Immediate Erotic Stages’» presented at the International Conference ‘Kierkegaard: Philosophy, Literature and the Challenges of Infinitude,’ Faculty of Letters, University of Lisbon, Portugal. October 25, 2012.

«Towards Determining Value of Expressive Indications in ‘Allegro Risoluto’ Movement of Op. 106 for Philosophical and Performance Interpretation» presented at the 24th International Beethoven Research Symposium, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. September 28, 2012.

«Indications of Mood, the Musical ‘Idee’ and Op. 106: Seeing Hermeneutics in Performance» presented at the Manchester International Beethoven Conference, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. June 25 – 7, 2012.

«Towards a Hermeneutics of Music: Listening to Idee» at the Teses da Teoria, Faculty of Letters, University of Lisbon, June 20, 2012.

«Philosophy as a Means to Understand Musical Analysis» presented at the Annual Conference for the Society of European Philosophy and The Forum for European Philosophy, York St John University, York, UK. August 31 – September 3, 2011.